Finding What Was Hers Again
by Travon203
Summary: This is during Season 3 AU. Sydney and the team find a surprise at the office and must figure out to go from here. Includes a Syd/Vaughn/Lauren love triangle but eventual Syd/Vaughn. (Disclaimer: I do not own Alias or its' characters.)
1. Chapter 1

Sydney had been back for six weeks, but she was still having trouble adapting to her "new" life. She still couldn't grasp Vaughn being married to someone who wasn't her. Lauren seemed nice, but Syd still didn't like her. The countless nights she had since she's been back has increased from once every few days to a nightly occurrence. Every time she would wake up from the same nightmare, she would reach out to the other side for Vaughn, only to realize that he was not hers anymore.

Things were slow at the office; the Covenant had been quiet for the past two weeks so the CIA was sure that they were up to something. Sydney was filling out some paperwork before she headed home when Jack came up to her.

"Sydney, it appears that some information has recently developed. Dixon has asked the entire team in his office," Jack said in his monotonous tone.

"Sure, I was just finishing up anyway," Sydney replied.

Sydney, Jack, Vaughn, and Weiss gathered in Dixon's office five minutes later.

Dixon announced, "Today at 1500 there was a security breach here and when security went to investigate the breach, they found a baby along with a note from the Covenant."

Sydney and Vaughn glanced at each other before Sydney piped up, "Wait, a baby? So why are we here? This seems like a job for Adoption Services."

"In the note, it says that the baby belongs to one of you," Dixon said. He then turned towards Sydney, "You, Syd."

Syd gave him a questionable glance, "What are you talking about? There is no way I could not know that I had a child. How can you be so sure that it's my child?"

"We compared your DNA to hers and it is a likely match that Isabelle is related to you. Now I know that this comes as a shock to everyone in this room, but we have to focus on why the Covenant waited weeks to give us back the child. That is all for tonight."

Everyone slowly trudged towards the door, Syd taking in the recent news. Isabella. She would have named her child that too. Jack, too, was shocked that he was a grandfather. In this business, it was not something he had ever thought about. A grandchild.

"Sydney, stay for a minute," Dixon called out.

Sydney turned around and waited for everyone to leave, glancing at Vaughn as he walked past her. She knew that he was thinking the exact thing she was. How the hell did she have a child when she had only been back during six weeks?

"Dixon, I have no idea how this could have happened. At least I don't remember."

"Syd, I know that this is a lot to take in. But would you like to go meet her? She's been in medical services for a while. The doctors tell me that she's healthy and strong."

Sydney had to see Isabelle for herself. She still could not believe that this was happening. "Sure."

They walked down to medical services and Syd met Dr. James, a middle-aged man who wore glasses with a tan complexion.

"Good news, Isabelle is 21.5 pounds and 29 inches tall, which is normal for a twelve month old."

"She's twelve months old?" Sydney asked.

"Yes."

Sydney then turned towards Dixon, "That would mean this would have been right around the time I was taken. So I could have been pregnant before they took me?"

Dixon realized that this would have complicated matters even further, especially if Vaughn was the father of their child.

Dixon told the doctor, "Can you run Isabelle's DNA against another agent?"

"Sure, but who?"

"Michael Vaughn."

"Alright, I should have the results in a couple of days."

Sydney went into the nursery room they had set up for the baby. She walked towards the crib, which slowly appeared a small being who was quietly chirping while showing her set of teeth. The baby girl was dressed in a yellow onesie.

Sydney picked Isabelle up from the crib, "Well hello Isabelle. I guess I'm your mama."

The baby pointed her fingers at Syd's nose, "Mama..."

Sydney fell in love with her within a second of that one word. She knew this baby was hers.

"She looks exactly like you," Dixon said leaning towards the baby.

Holding Isabelle made Sydney miss Vaughn even more, not knowing how she could do this alone.

During the next few days, Sydney remained in the nursery room, getting to know Isabelle. She had almost to none experience with children and required the help of a parenting book. She found out that Isabelle does not like mashed peas and enjoys eating with her hands. She likes to be rocked to sleep with a nice lullaby to soothe her. Jack had even helped her with the changing diapers part.

"Sydney, have you given any thought as to what would happen if Vaughn is actually the father?"

"I don't know, Dad. I'm still trying to process this myself."

"You will have to tell him eventually."

"I know, Dad. But he has a wife. I can't ruin that."

"Sydney, you have a responsibility to this child to make sure that this child is loved from both its' parents. Given my experience, I've learned that it's better to give them the best love and attention possible otherwise they end up..."

"Don't worry, Dad. I will tell him as soon as the results come in. But right now, you are on grandpa duty. I just got word about a new mission. So here you go, Grandpa Jack," Sydney said as she handed Isabelle to Jack.

She later walked into the conference room, after receiving word that they had a new lead on the Covenant. All eyes were on her as soon as she took her seat across from Vaughn. She could tell from his concerned look and knew that this conversation might happen sooner than later. Dixon discussed their new mission which involved going to a nuclear lab in Paris. They were to leave in three hours.

On the plane to Paris, Vaughn knew they didn't have the type of relationship where he could talk to her like before, but he couldn't help himself.

"So how is the baby doing? Isabelle, right?"

"She's great. I'm still learning more about what she likes or doesn't like."

"So you don't remember anything about her from the time you were gone? Not even being pregnant?"

"No. I don't remember anything. But all I know is that she is definitely my daughter."

"Do you know who her father is?"

"We're still working on it. But for now, we're running DNA tests for any known matches in the database," Syd said, knowing that it wasn't a complete lie.

"Well, if she's anything like you then it should be easy to know what she likes."

"I don't know about that. She surprises me sometimes."

"Well then she's exactly like you," Vaughn said, immediately lightening the mood. And for a second, it felt like old times. They kept smiling and breathing in each other's eyes until Sydney realized that Vaughn was still married and they weren't together.

The mission went off without a hitch, which usually meant a broken rib or two for Sydney. She could care less about them, knowing that coming home to see Isabelle would get rid of that pain. She had only been gone for two days but it felt like two weeks. She immediately went to medical services, deciding to do the after-mission report in the morning. Right now, she just wanted to hold her baby girl. She walked into the nursery and saw her dad and Dr. James talking.

"Good news, Agent Bristow. We have the official results of the paternity test. You were right. The DNA test matched Agent Michael Vaughn 100%."

* * *

**A/N:** Hey guys. Alias has been my favorite TV show for years. I absolutely love Syd/Vaughn and I seriously wished they were together in real life. Anyway, please enjoy and review. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

Sydney was shocked to say the least, that Vaughn was the father. Part of her was glad that it was him and not anybody else, but she couldn't help feeling guilty that she was somehow ruining his life with Lauren. The last thing she would ever want is to come in between him and Lauren. How would she even start the sentence? _Hey Vaughn, we have a daughter together?_ Sydney was now too confused and decided to put it all off for the next morning. She looked down at her daughter, lightly snoring in her crib. Jack had told her to take some time off for the next couple of days to take care of Isabelle and she was unopposed to the idea. The recent mission left her in more pain than she expected. She went to go grab an ice pack and then came back to her seat in the nursery. This was her temporary living quarters now since she didn't have the equipment necessary to house a baby in her apartment. She was hoping to use the next couple of days to go shopping for a car seat, a stroller, baby formula, etc...

Sydney woke up the next morning to the Isabelle's chatter. The entire night comprised of Syd walking Isabelle around because she kept fussing and wouldn't go back to school. As her eyes fluttered open, she saw Vaughn holding Isabelle while singing her what sounded like a sweet French lullaby. She immediately stood up out of her chair.

"Vaughn! What are you doing here?"

"Oh hey. I hope it was okay that I held her. You looked kind of wiped out and I thought I could help her out a little bit."

"Oh. You have experience with kids?"

"Some. I used to watch my little cousins."

"I didn't know that."

"Yeah. Isabelle is adorable. She looks like you."

"Everybody's been telling me that. Well, technically it's only been my dad and Dixon. No one else has really seen her."

"I would have paid to see Grandpa Jack."

"Yeah, he's really good with her. The other day she laughed at him as if he was the funniest thing in the world."

Vaughn smiled at that comment, trying to imagine Jack with the baby. Vaughn, standing there and holding Isabelle, reminded Sydney of what she was supposed to do. Yet, she didn't know how to start.

"Vaughn, we need to talk."

Vaughn gave her a quizzical look, "What about?"

She pulled the chair across the room next to her chair and directed him towards it. She took Isabelle from his arms and they sat down to talk.

"Vaughn, Dr. James told me the results of the paternity test last night."

After a pause, Vaughn waited for her to tell him, "Okay... So who is it?"

Sydney took a deep breath in before she said the words that would change their lives, "You are the father."

Vaughn was taken aback and was silent for a few months, only keeping his eyes on Isabelle.

"Vaughn, say something. Because if you won't, I will. I don't expect anything from you because this complicates our relationship even more. It is your choice whether you want to be involved or not. If not, then I understand and I will raise Isabelle on my own. But if you do, then we are going to have to set up some boundaries and all that. Because I will not allow our daughter to feel unloved or unwanted because her parents are not together," Sydney said in a serious tone, knowing that she had to protect her daughter at any cost despite the fact that it was Vaughn she was talking to.

Vaughn was still focused on _"our daughter"_ and could not believe how any of this happened so that was the first thing he asked. "How?"

"I did the math and I was pregnant right around the time I got taken. I guess the Covenant allowed me to keep the baby."

"Oh my god. So we could have...?"

Sydney knew that Vaughn was still taking all of this in while still keeping his eyes on Isabelle. The little girl could care less about her father's reactions but was more interested in tugging her mother's hair. Vaughn was still shocked that the child he was holding a second ago now belonged to him.

After a brief moment of silence from either of them, Vaughn cleared his throat and spoke, "I want to be in her life."

Sydney smiled, already knowing that Vaughn would have done the right thing. He put his hand over hers, both knowing that this wasn't about their relationship, but rather the realization that they were now parents to their little girl.

"Who else knows that I'm the father?" Vaughn asked.

"Just Dr. James and my dad. I was going to tell Dixon after this so he would be aware of the recent developments."

"Okay, that's good."

Vaughn left afterwards, promising to come by the next day to be with Isabelle again. He made plans with Weiss for lunch so he could talk to his best friend about this. He trusted Weiss. Despite his joking demeanor, Weiss was always there for him, especially when he thought he lost Sydney and went through depression. They made plans to meet up at a café two blocks down the street at noon.

Vaughn arrived at the café a little bit earlier and ordered a beer first. He normally wouldn't order a beer this early, but this was a special occasion. Weiss came ten minutes later, asking why the sudden lunch plans. Vaughn then told him everything that had happened earlier.

"Wait, so let me get this straight. She was pregnant when she got taken and the Covenant just let her keep the baby? And this baby is yours?"

"Yep."

"Wow, that is one hell of a story," Weiss said dipping his fries in ketchup. "So how are you feeling?"

"Honestly, I'm a little bit overwhelmed."

"I would be too if I had just found out that I now have a kid with my ex-girlfriend who recently came back from the dead six weeks ago."

"Yeah, but this is a lot. One second, I holding my ex's kid and the next thing I know, I'm holding my own daughter. And it's so weird. Lauren and I were talking about having kids a few weeks ago and we were planning for maybe another year or two. And now I have one, just not with the woman I'm married to."

"Speaking of which, when are you planning to tell her?"

"Who? Lauren?"

"Yeah, the person who hates Sydney the most."

"First of all, she does not hate Sydney. She's just in disagreement with Sydney," Vaughn said trying to put this in simpler terms. "We'll get through this. This is my kid. I have to be there."

"I know, but still. She is going to freak out. And I mean FREAK out," Weiss said with extra emphasis.

"Yeah... But what choice do I have?"

"When are you going to tell her? It better be soon because if she hears this from someone else, then... you're screwed."

"We're supposed to have an early anniversary dinner tonight because she was heading out of town for a business conference on the actual date."

"Alright. Well I wish you luck. You're gonna need it."

"Thanks," Vaughn said sarcastically.

Vaughn spent the rest of his day, finishing up the paperwork for the last mission. He had some time to spare before his dinner so he decided to head to a bookstore to grab some parenting books. He wanted to be prepared for any upcoming experiences. He was at the store for hours, captivated in learning about the child's development stages, that he was nearly late for his dinner. Luckily, he kept his nice suit in the trunk and changed on the way there. "Here goes nothing," he said as he entered the restaurant.

* * *

**A/N:** Hey guys, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. I realize that people might not read Alias fanfics anymore but I still do and I reread them too. Anyway this is for anyone who loves Alias just as much as I do!


	3. Chapter 3

Vaughn walked into the lightly dimmed restaurant, Penn Ar Roch, their favorite restaurant to dine at since it was where they had their first date. The hostess guided him to his table where he saw his wife wear a beautiful bright red strapless dress while holding a small sequined purse. He smiled at her and leaned in to kiss her hello.

"Sorry, I'm late," Vaughn said as he took his seat.

"No worries. I just got here myself. The meeting took longer than I thought so I didn't have time to put on the entire poof and powder."

"You look beautiful regardless of the _poof and powder_," he complimented her.

"Thank you, sweetheart. So how was your day?"

"I actually wanted to talk to you about that. So I'm not sure if you heard but Sydney recently had a baby."

"Yes, I heard from Marshall about what happened. It's terrible that the Covenant waited weeks to give her her child back. How is she and the baby doing?"

"Good. They're doing good."

"Any ideas on who the father is?"

This was the moment. Vaughn didn't want to lie to her. "Umm, yeah. I am the father."

"Wait what? Michael, what are you talking about? There is no way that you are the father," she said loudly, with Vaughn receiving dirty glances from other patrons around them.

"Lauren, please lower your voice. Let's go talk about this somewhere else."

"No, I want to talk about it here. Tell me everything now."

Vaughn threw his hands up in defeat, knowing that there was no good scenario that would come out of this. He explained the story once again about the Covenant and Isabelle and anything else regarding him and the baby. He couldn't explain the look on her face except that it seemed as if it was a mix of anger, sadness, and betrayal.

"Lauren, you have to understand that this all happened before you and I met. None of us could have known that this would happen."

"For God's sake, you're still defending her! Michael, do you know how humiliated I'll be every time I step foot in that office, with everyone knowing that you have a child with your ex-girlfriend? It's already hard enough now with Sydney's recent appearance."

"I understand, but this is my daughter. You can't expect me not to be there for her. She's a part of me no matter what."

After a long silence from both parties, Lauren met his eyes. "Who else knows about this?'

"Jack and Weiss, and I would probably assume Dixon's been notified by now."

"Unbelievable. You let Weiss know before me," Lauren said. Vaughn was going to justify himself but she continued on, "I don't understand you, Michael. I thought we were in this marriage together. But ever since Sydney came back, we've been at odds more than ever. And right now, I don't need this. I am going home to pack. Don't follow me."

"Lauren, please. Let's just talk about this," Vaughn said as he reached for her arm and Lauren pushing it away and walking off.

Vaughn exhaled in anger, thinking this went worse than he expected. He drank the rest of the champagne he ordered beforehand before leaving. Normally if he and Lauren had an argument, he would go crash at Weiss' place but Vaughn didn't really feel like talking out his feelings. He already did too much of that today. He aimlessly roamed around the pier for a little while, trying to figure out his situation. He had already called Lauren three times and wasn't surprised that she didn't pick up. Vaughn knew that his wife had every right to be mad at him but this was an impossible situation. Never in a million years did he think Sydney was alive, much less have a child together.

Sydney was still worried about today's events. Vaughn seemed sure that he would be present in Isabelle's life and that would also mean being present in her life. She wasn't sure how she herself felt about this. She was still in love with him. To her, it was only a month ago that they planned to go to Santa Barbara for the weekend. But deep down, Syd knew that Vaughn was with Lauren and she would never do anything to jeopardize their relationship, no matter how much she missed him.

Sydney looked down at her watch and saw that it was already dark outside. She had been holed up in the nursery all day, adjusting to her new role as a mother. After four days, Sydney got into a routine which involved Isabelle's daily three naps and a bottle feeding every three to four hours. She recently upgraded her folding chair to a rocking chair that her dad brought over. Apparently, it was her mother's. She didn't know how to feel about her mother's old rocking chair, but she took it nonetheless, thanking her dad.

"I assume you already told Vaughn the news," Jack said bluntly.

"Yes, I did," she said solemnly.

"He didn't take it very well, did he?"

"Well, actually, he was fine. He said he wanted to be involved with Isabelle. So we're going to work things out tomorrow," she said as she paced back and forth in the small cramped room.

"Sydney, you shouldn't be worried about their relationship," Jack said knowing where his daughter's mind was going.

Sydney nodded, "I know, Dad." She would have continued on but it was too awkward and uncomfortable to talk to her dad about this. But she knew where he was coming from. At that moment, Jack noticed his granddaughter awakened from her nap. He picked her up and watched as she put her tiny hands on his face. Sydney turned around and smiled at them.

An hour later, Sydney was playing peek a boo with her daughter when Vaughn suddenly walked in the nursery. She looked up to see him smiling at her while leaning on the door.

"Vaughn, what are you doing here? It's late. I thought we agreed on tomorrow."

"Yeah, we did."

Isabelle turned around and uttered out, "Da da..."

Both parents looked at each other in surprise, causing Vaughn to walk towards them.

"Isabelle, did you just say _dada_?" Vaughn said as he sat down next to them while the little girl grabbed onto his finger.

"Yes, she did," Sydney said. Vaughn was still in awe of their little girl. "Vaughn, what's going on?"

Vaughn looked her eyes, "I told Lauren."

"How did she react?"

"Not great. But we'll get through this. I hope."

Neither of them knew what to say at this point. They weren't where they were before where they could say almost anything to each other as if it was normal conversation.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Vaughn asked.

"Oh, well I have a couple of errands to run tomorrow. For starters, I have to get a car seat, a crib for my place because I can't keep staying here, some other stuff. And then I have to go find a pediatrician for her. Yeah, tomorrow is going to be crazy."

"Do you mind if I come with you, as long we don't have any missions coming up?"

"Are you sure? Because you don't have to. I'm sure that I could get all of this done within the afternoon."

"Come on, Syd. I want to help. I told you that I was in this 100% and I intend on keeping my promise."

"Okay," Sydney said, deciding that there was no point in arguing with him.

Vaughn then proceeded to rock Isabelle to sleep, lulling her to sleep within twenty minutes. Sydney was amazed that it could even been done. She had a harder time getting her to sleep, especially during the night when Isabelle would wake up every couple of hours. _I guess she really is a daddy's girl, she thought_.

While Vaughn was spending time with his new daughter, Lauren was at home packing for her conference. Her outburst at the restaurant was believable enough that she knew he would go running back to Sydney. Her phone then buzzed; a new message appeared on her phone.

_"Is it done?"_

_"Yes."_

* * *

**A/N: **Hey all, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review and PM me if you have any suggestions for any upcoming chapters! Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

Unbeknownst to Vaughn or anyone else in the CIA and NSC, Lauren Reed was a double agent for the Covenant. She, too, was surprised when she heard that Sydney Bristow was alive. It made her job a little bit harder when it came to reeling in her husband. But it was next to impossible now that they have a kid together.

Her original assignment was to maintain her cover as an NSC liaison to the CIA while keeping tabs on their activity and reporting back to the Covenant. Technically, she still had the same assignment but she was more focused on Sydney and Michael now that they had more reason to be together more often.

She was shoving her clothes in her bags when her phone rang. The standard operating procedure was a one-worded message from a blocked user and that would be her cue to meet her handler the next morning. Afterwards, she laid on the bed thinking about Michael. Part of her did feel something with him even though he was just a job. She wanted the world to know that he was hers and that she would do anything to keep him.

Vaughn came home an hour later. He walked in the bedroom to see Lauren already asleep or at least he thought so. He took off his watch and placed on his night stand next to his wallet and phone. He had enjoyed spending time with Isabelle despite the fact that he had only met her today. She made him feel as if he was trying too hard to make her accept him, which sounded actually ridiculous in his head. He already loved her; that was something he was sure about.

Vaughn came into the nursery and saw Sydney tossing and turning on the rocking chair.

"No, don't! Please!" she shouted out as she gripped the arm rest of the chair.

Vaughn immediately ran to her and tried to gently shake her awake. "Syd, wake up! Syd!" He kept nudging her shoulder until she woke up dazed and confused. She saw Vaughn's look of concerned and noticed the beads of sweat on her forehead. I must have had a nightmare, she thought. His hand was still on her arm.

"Syd, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. What time is it?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"A little past eight. Do you want to go grab some breakfast before we go run errands?"

"Sure, but wait. We don't have a stroller to carry her around. Unless you're up for carrying a 30 lb baby for the next hour?"

"Well, how bad could she be? We've gone through worse," he said smiling.

"True. Alright let me go get ready. Can you change her diaper?"

"Sure."

Truth be told, Vaughn did not have much experience changing diapers. But with the book he'd recently read, it saved him from some embarrassment of being an unprepared parent. Within five minutes, the three of them were ready for the road. They picked a café that was somewhat kid-friendly and provided a decent meal. Sydney wanted to sit outside so they could all enjoy some fresh air. They both ordered coffee and waffles while their daughter had a small bowl of fruit. Sydney noticed that Isabelle's almost had a full set of teeth and she had read somewhere that twelve-month-old could now eat more complex food under adult supervision.

"How long have the nightmares been going?" Vaughn asked out of nowhere.

"Ever since I've been back."

"Have you talked to anyone about it? Barnett?"

"I've spoken to her about it," Sydney replied shortly. He could tell that she didn't want to talk about it so he didn't push it.

Vaughn then changed the subject, "So what's first on the agenda today?"

"So first we're getting all the essential stuff. A car seat, a crib, a stroller, baby food..."

"Diapers, don't forget that," he reminded her.

"Yeah, we're gonna need a lot of those too."

They silently ate their meal as Isabelle happily munched on her blueberries. Afterwards, they headed towards the baby store. Neither of them knew how much they didn't know about being a parent. They spent two hours in the store, trying to pick out a car seat because each one had a different safety feature. Eventually they picked the one that had the best impact protection shield.

Although the afternoon went longer than expected, Syd and Vaughn were happy with the results. They ended the sunny LA afternoon with a nice walk in the park while enjoying a scoop of ice cream. It was also a great way to test drive the new stroller. Sydney was not one to relish in sweets like Vaughn but she decided to hell with it. She was a grown woman. She could eat an ice cream if she wanted to. They sat down on a bench with Isabelle in between Vaughn and Isabelle.

"Uh oh, I think our daughter wants some ice cream," Vaughn grinned as Isabelle was sticking out her tongue.

"Fine, but only a lick. I'm not too sure on the rules of feeding a baby ice cream," Syd warned.

Vaughn put Isabelle on his lap and allowed Isabelle to have a tiny lick before her eyes widen and smiled from the sweet taste.

"I think she's addicted now," Sydney giggled.

It felt nice having this family time even though they weren't really a family. It was more of broken pieces of family. Vaughn was glad they got to spend some together now that they were parents. He didn't want things to be awkward with Syd. It never was before and he didn't want that to change. _If only I could get Lauren onboard, he thought._ He called her earlier and left multiple messages, hoping they could still talk this out.

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

Lauren's conference comprised of multiple NSC officers and her superior, Robert Lindsay, who believed that Rambaldi was a nasty business to be a part of. She was the main subject of the entire conference, questioned by her peers of what Sydney's Bristow return meant according to the Rambaldi manuscript. Truthfully, she did not know. The Covenant, the people who took part in kidnapping Sydney, also had no idea how she managed to escape their clutches and remake her appearance.

"Ms. Reed, is it true that your husband, Agent Michael Vaughn, used to be in a romantic relationship with Agent Bristow?" her colleague, George Sepal, asked.

"Yes."

"Don't you find it odd that your husband's former partner came back the week we found a nuclear bomb in the Covenant's hands?"

"Excuse me, but shouldn't you be asking her that?"

"We're asking you."

Lauren glared at Sepal before finally answering, "Yes, I suppose it's odd that she came back at that time. But what does that have to do with me?"

Her superior, Lindsay, then spoke up, "Ms. Reed, over the past four months, we've connected three of your recent out-of-country trips with events that have to do with Covenant successfully arming themselves with parts of a nuclear weapon. And when Agent Bristow came back, you were on an unsanctioned trip to Brussels without any contact for two days."

Lauren was now caught in the lie, but managed to abruptly end the stares and whispers surrounding it, "My father has cancer. We've been keeping it in the family because if Congress were to know, they would ask for his resignation. I've been going out of the country to look for treatments. Treatments that have been experimentally proven to cure his cancer."

After much discussion between the panel members, Lindsay announced, "Due to this new revelation, we will reconvene at a later time. We'll notify you when we're ready. This panel is adjourned."

The gavel was banged and Lauren walked out of the room, proud that she had not been arrested yet. She checked her phone, finding multiple voicemails from Michael, which she would ignore for the time being, and one encrypted message.

_You were supposed to keep him on a short leash._

She then replied:

_I tried. But what was I supposed to do? I had to look upset or else the plan wouldn't work._

* * *

**A/N: **Hey all, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please review! Thanks!


	5. Chapter 5

Weeks went by, Sydney and Vaughn fully adjusting to their new role as parents. Isabelle was teething at the moment and had been fussing for the past few nights. They recently moved everything into Sydney's apartment. Syd was holding Isabelle in her new room, trying to rock her to sleep.

"C'mon baby go to sleep..." Sydney said as Isabelle's cries grew louder and louder. Eventually Sydney gave in; she called the one person who can soothe Isabelle at this hour. She picked up the phone and dialed Vaughn's number.

"Vaughn," he said groggily while trying to open his eyes from his deep sleep. "Syd, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's actually Isabelle. She's been fussing all night and I can't put her back to sleep. Can you come over?"

Vaughn turned over to find his wife lightly snoring on her side, "Yeah, sure. I'll be over in ten minutes." Things between him and Lauren had not improved. She was still giving him the silent treatment. He got up and grabbed a pair of pants from the end of the bed. He took his keys and phone and left the house after taking one last look at his sleeping wife.

He arrived at Sydney's apartment in exactly ten minutes later and saw Sydney relieved to see his face.

"Thank you for coming," she said.

"Of course," he said walking with her to Isabelle's room. He saw Isabelle standing in the crib looking out the door to see who it was. "Hey there, sweetheart."

"Dada...Dada.."

"I'll let you do your thing," Sydney said while walking out to the living room.

After ten minutes of Vaughn's light humming, Isabelle was out like a light. He walked into the living room, to find Sydney sitting on the couch sitting crisscrossed. He then collapsed on the couch with her facing her direction.

"That fast, huh?" she asked.

"What can I say? All babies want me," he joked.

After a silent pause, Sydney then thanked him again.

"You know you don't have to thank me, right? I'm her dad. It's part of my job."

"I know, but I woke you at 2 in the morning. I'm sure Lauren isn't too happy about that," Sydney slipped out before looking down in embarrassment. "Sorry, it's none of my business."

"No, it's alright. If I'm being honest, she and I are not at a good place right now."

"I'm sorry."

Vaughn looked at his watch and saw that it was nearly three already. He got up from the couch, "I should go."

"Yeah."

Sydney walked him out to the door.

"I'll see you later."

"Okay."

Vaughn kept standing at the door, not wanting to leave yet. He and Syd stared into each other, needing to be with each other. Sydney wanted this more than anyone which was she had to be the one to stop it.

"You should get going."

Vaughn nodded. Sydney watched him walk off to his car as she closed the door and then leaned on it. Vaughn's marriage being on the rocks didn't help her quench her feelings for him. She walked back to her bed and laid on her bed until sunrise. She recently had Dixon assigned agents to watch Isabelle while she went to work since they had yet figured out what happened during her two missing years. She was feeding Isabelle her morning bottle when the agents came. Agent Rance and Ryser came in, both in their mid-thirties. Rance had a dark complexion and a shaved head; he used to be in the Army, now with a wife and two boys. Ryser had a tan complexion with a crew cut; he's been with the Agency twenty plus years. He's been married twice but no kids. Both agents did not mind the babysitting job since it kept them out of danger and they were handpicked personally by Jack.

"Good morning, guys. She just finished her bottle and I'm about to put her down for her nap," Sydney said.

They had been on the job for two weeks now, slowly acclimating to the Bristow family. Isabelle was a peach to them, never fussing or causing trouble. Sydney put Isabelle down for her nap and then went to work. She headed into the office, watching as everyone running around and phones ringing, an analyst nearly bumping into her. She subsequently saw Vaughn talking with Weiss and walked towards them.

"Hey, what's with all the commotion?" Sydney asked.

"Hey, Syd. We just got intel chatter on the Covenant planning to take out a foreign official," Weiss said. "I gotta go check in with the analysts." Weiss walked away, leaving Vaughn and Syd facing each other.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," Vaughn greeted back.

"How'd you sleep this morning?" she asked.

"Good. How's Isabelle?" Vaughn asked. He had actually not gone back home immediately after he left Syd's house. He drove around for a few hours trying to settle his mind before going to the office at 5AM and catching up on some work. Afterwards he went to home to take a quick shower and then came back.

"She's good. Rance and Ryser are doing a good job making sure she's safe," she said to ease his mind. Vaughn did not necessarily have a say in who got the protection detail. It was up to Jack's discretion but Vaughn trusted him, knowing that they were both trying to protect their girls or at least Jack's girls.

"We've got a meeting in five. So, we should probably go," Vaughn said.

They headed to the conference room and watched as everyone enter last minute, including Lauren who looked even more visibly upset than usual.

"Good morning, everyone," Dixon said. "We've recently intercepted intel that the Covenant is going to take out a foreign official but we have no idea who it is. It's supposed to take place at 0900 but we don't know where or what day."

"What exactly was said?" Sydney asked.

Jack answered this time, "We don't have the full report yet but the NSA flagged the words "the Legacy" and "oath of God" along with the contract hit."

"The Pope?" Weiss offered. "He would fit."

"Yes, but the Covenant has never been one to take part in religious figures," Jack explained.

The team took some time to think about what this all meant before Sydney realized it. She looked around the room before meeting Vaughn's eyes, knowing who exactly the Covenant was talking about.

"Isabelle," Sydney simply said with a gasp in her throat.

"What? Your daughter?" Marshall said.

Sydney left the room to call Agent Rance while Vaughn explained to everyone else what was happened.

"Isabelle's name means 'God is my oath' although I'm pretty sure she wasn't named for that reason. And because Sydney was interpreted at the 'The Chosen One', it's likely that Isabelle must be 'The Legacy'."

"We have no possible evidence that they're targeting Isabelle," Jack said.

Sydney came back into the room and panic ensured on Vaughn's face, "Neither of the agents are picking up."

Vaughn and Sydney nodded at each other and ran to his car and headed over to house. All the while, Lauren was silently holding in her enthusiasm that Phase 1 went off without a hitch.

Vaughn checked around the perimeter of the house while Sydney entered the house. She saw Rance knocked out and the door to Isabelle's room opened. The room was empty with no other signs of a struggle.

Vaughn then came in the house, "I found Ryser out back dead. His body is still warm. It couldn't have been more than ten minutes ago."

"She's gone," Sydney said with tears rising and her hand over her mouth. "She's gone."

Vaughn took her into his arms, swearing that whoever did this would pay. Sydney began crying hysterically, gripping his jacket as his hands rubbed on her back to calm her down. "It'll be alright. We'll get her back."

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**A/N: **Hello everyone, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review! Thanks!


	6. Chapter 6

It had been 36 hours since Isabelle was taken and Vaughn and Syd were now ready for desperate attempts to get her back. Sydney was about to go lone wolf and Vaughn knew it. He tried to talk her out of it.

"Syd, you can't possible think this is the right way to get her back. What are you gonna do? Go guns a blazing on every Covenant soldier you find?" he asked as Sydney was packing her weapons and artillery.

"If that's what it will take," Syd said.

"Syd, you will get killed before you get any closer. Let's just wait."

"Wait for what? Wait until it's too late? Vaughn, this is our daughter we're talking about. She's thirteen months old. She can't survive on her own. She needs us. And I need her."

"Fine, but I'm coming with you."

"Vaughn, stop. I'm doing this alone. If something happens..." Sydney tried to put this in words as best as she could. "You have someone to come home to. Isabelle is my person."

"I cannot lose you. Both of you," he said staring at her, meaning every single word.

"Fine. Meet me at Dover Airfield on 2100."

Sydney and Vaughn left the weapons room, only to run into Weiss. He told them that Sark was on the line, asking to speak to Sydney. They went into Marshall's office so he could trace the call. The call was put on speaker.

"Hello?" she said.

"Agent Bristow, how lovely to hear your voice."

"Sark, where's my daughter?"

"Don't worry, she's safe. At least for now," he said with a hinted smirk. Vaughn clenched his fist as he heard this.

"What do you want?"

"Quick to the point, aren't we? No time for fun then."

"Sark, what do you want?"

"What the Covenant wants is for you to release two prisoners from Camp Williams. And if you don't, sweet Isabelle will have to face her fate soon enough. Give us our prisoners and we just might return your daughter. If not, well you'll see..." Sark said, ending the call.

"Sark! Sark!"

Sydney and Vaughn looked Marshall who then shook his head. They couldn't trace the call. Now Sydney was now more than ever, hell bent on getting those prisoners out. She walked out of Marshall's office, with Vaughn and Jack following right behind her.

"Syd, where are you going?" Vaughn asked.

"Where do you think? I'm going to get those prisoners out," Sydney said trying to get out of this conversation.

"Sydney, you know that Camp Williams is a covert NSC detention camp. You can't just ask them to hand over the prisoners," Jack said.

"I know. That's why I'm going to break them out."

"They will shoot you on-site before you even make it to the entrance," Jack warned.

"Dad, I have to do something. I am not going to sit here and watch for the proper channels to be gone through. We only have twenty-four hours."

"Syd," Vaughn said to get her attention.

"What?"

"We're coming with you," he said on behalf of him and Jack.

"What? Why?"

"If you think we're going to let you go on your own, then you're dead wrong. We are her family. We're all she's got and we can't lose each other," Vaughn said. Jack nodded with a slight crook in his smile, glad that Vaughn was stepping up despite betraying his daughter.

Jack went off to go hire freelance mercenaries for the job while Sydney and Vaughn figured out their strategic plan to get into the camp. Williams is a 10,000 sq. ft building with soldiers based on every wing. No one comes in or out without sliding a key card. Cameras in every single hallway and motion detectors for the black wing – some of the worst scumbags the public has never heard of because for once the government did their job, which was where the prisoners were being held.

The plan struck at 2100 tonight. Syd and Vaughn and the group of mercenaries slid down from the helicopter. Jack was going to run the mission from up top. The roof was the least secure part of the building so they entered from the top into the black wing. Guards were immediately aware of the intrusion and rushed over to the black wing – the most secluded wing from others. Vaughn took a shot below his shoulder, meaning he would have to get a cast. But he brushed it off to get the prisoners. Their goal was to get in and out of there in eight minutes. They had borrowed one of Marshall's toys to get into the wing; Vaughn and Syd entered the wing and then grabbed the prisoners. They ran back to the roof, hoping back on the helicopter while armed guards were attempting to shoot the it down.

"Vaughn, your shoulder."

"It's fine. I'll have medical services patch it up when we get back."

They flew back to the office, Jack personally escorting the prisoners to holding for the time being and Lauren hugging Vaughn as Sydney watched from afar.

"Michael, what happened to you? You're bleeding," Lauren said.

"Oh, it was nothing," he said casually.

"Not nothing. Let's go down to medical right now"

"Okay, but there's something I have to do first."

Vaughn left Lauren's side and walked towards Sydney.

"Hey," he said to Sydney. "Are we ready?"

She nodded and then dialed the number that Sark used before.

"Agent Bristow, do you have my men?"

"Yes, let's meet."

"2400 Riverside St in two hours," he said ending the call.

Vaughn put his hand on her arm, rubbing it slightly to comfort her. Lauren saw from where she was standing and was currently seething with anger. She was starting to regret this plan. _It always starts off hard and ends easy, she thought in order to calm herself._

Jack, Sydney, and Vaughn received an earful from Dixon for violating protocol and disobeying his orders. In the end, it was slap on the wrist for them. Dixon hated himself having to do this to his family but it was his job uphold the rules here.

They later went to the meet. Sark and his men came minutes afterward. Sark came out of the car, carrying the baby in a car seat.

"Where are my men?" Sark asked. Vaughn opened the car door to let the men out.

"They're here," Sydney shouted.

"On the count of three. One, two, three."

Sark met them halfway and set down the car seat while Vaughn pushed the men onto the other side. Sydney ran to her daughter, who was oblivious of her surroundings and now kicking her feet out of joy. They walked back, with Vaughn hugging them and kissing his daughter.

"Isabelle, thank goodness. You're alright, sweetheart," Vaughn said.

"We should go get her checked out. Make sure she's alright," Jack said.

They got in the car and drove back to the office so Isabelle could be checked out. After thirty minutes of testing the little girl for any evidence of trauma, she was cleared to home. Sydney and Vaughn sighed in relief.

"Thanks Doc," Vaughn said reaching his hand to shake the doctor's hand.

"Let's go home, sweetie," Sydney said turning towards the exit.

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**A/N:** Hey everyone, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. It looks like things are going well, aren't they? But for now... Anyways, please review! Thanks!


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